Julian Schreibman vies to run in 19th

Schreibman says Gibson is "voting as a tea party person"

Updated 3:17 pm, Sunday, June 17, 2012

Julian Schreibman Democratic candidate for the New York 19th Congressional District in Kingston N.Y. Tuesday June 12, 2012. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Julian Schreibman Democratic candidate for the New York 19th Congressional District in Kingston N.Y. Tuesday June 12, 2012. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Photo: Michael P. Farrell

Julian Schreibman vies to run in 19th

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KINGSTON — It took Julian Schreibman less than two minutes of conversation to mention the Republican congressman he hopes to unseat in November.

Like any experienced lawyer, he always turns back to the core of his argument: that Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, is "voting as a tea party person" to gut the federal Medicare system and "turn it into an underfunded coupon program." Also, Gibson voted to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides women's health services, including abortions.

"It's a campaign about fundamental fairness for families in this area," said Schreibman, 39, during an interview last week in a storefront campaign headquarters.

Schreibman is vying with Joel Tyner — whose name he never mentioned unbidden — for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 11-county 19th District, which encompasses the mid-Hudson Valley and Catskills, including parts of Rensselaer and Montgomery counties.

He outlined a fairly standard Democratic platform, repeating the phrase "common-sense solutions" as often as possible. He would let 2001 tax cuts expire for people reporting more than $250,000 in income and vote against cuts to small-business programs. He would work to contain Medicare costs. He's in favor of a woman's right to an abortion, and said he'd work to ensure access to women's health services.

"We'll focus on the issues that are critically important here — supporting our small businesses, which are the engine of our economy, as well as our agriculture sector," he said.

But Schreibman wasn't generous with specific ways to do so, beyond saying he would support research at cooperative agricultural extensions and maintain funding for loans to small businesses.

"Everything goes back to the issue of fairness," he said. "What's right and fair as opposed to what's in the interest of lobbyists and folks pouring millions into our political system to affect the outcome."

Schreibman did not bring up the issue of hydraulic fracturing, a process by which shale is fractured with a high-pressure mixture of water and chemicals to release natural gas. He supports a bill that would force drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they use, and supports the current moratorium in New York as state and federal officials study the issue, but he would not call for a ban just yet.

"We cannot have fracking in New York with the evidence as what is shown right now," he said. "It's a decision that will be made one way or another, and my role in this is to ensure if this is done, it's done safely."

Schreibman served for several years as Ulster County Democratic chairman, but other than flirting with a run for district attorney in 2007 he has never been a candidate.

The father of three young boys, he grew up in the district and was the first in his family to go to college, graduating from Yale University and its law school. He worked for the Central Intelligence Agency as a lawyer, coordinating with the Department of Justice on the case against Osama bin Laden related to the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa. He later worked as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan and an assistant district attorney in Ulster County. Since 2008, he has worked for a Manhattan-based firm doing general practice law.

Groups key to winning Democratic primaries have nearly all lined up behind him: Schreibman was endorsed by the Teamsters and SEIU 1199 — which represents health care workers — as well as Democratic committees in the district's core counties.